My first knife "order"

quint said:
Good looking blades so far.

If I remember correctly loctite has there marine epoxy which I think is pretty good. Its pretty slow setting. It also cures white so could help with the ivory one.

Only thing I can say is try and shape if possible the bolsters or be very careful after ward. Brass will build some heat up very quickly and can destroy the epoxy bond.
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Thanks, Quint. I do have some of the Loctite Marine around. I used it to attach the bog oak pieces to the bone & vulcanized paper spacer.

As for the "bolsters", they are made of CPM S30V, which will definitely be fully shaped and finish before they are attached.

chemistguy said:
where did you get the bog oak?
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I got that from Burl Source here on the forum.
 
Here's a look at the amboyna handle with ivory ends. The front piece is still not attached, and won't be until final assembly. It's all just rough sanded now, and the wood has a little butcher block conditioner on it to bring out the color and pattern.

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Both blades have now been cross-sanded at 280 grit, then straight sanded at 400 grit. After that I spent a little time and effort getting the handle stacks figured out. I'm not 100% committed to the stacks, but they look pretty good to my eye. The bog oak stack is capped with a piece of G10 I made by stacking about 10 slices of black G10 spacer, with a second bone+vulcanized paper spacer behind it. The Amboyna stack is capped with a matching piece of the same ivory that became the butt.

I'm hoping by the end of tomorrow I'll be done with the hand sanding, and I can work on creating the secondary bevels and sharpening them.

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Thanks Willie.

I decided to push the Bog Oak blade to the end point for primary hand sanding and burned my mark in it. I have to say, etching on stainless generated MUCH better results than I usually get on carbon steel.

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Now to bring the other blade to this point.
 
I have to say I really like the word "original" in the place of "hand made" or "custom" It really looks classy.

Cant wait to see the finished product.

EDIT: Not that there is anything wrong with the other two.
 
redd1981 said:
I have to say I really like the word "original" in the place of "hand made" or "custom" It really looks classy.
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Thanks. The idea came from a piece of costume jewelry I bought for my wife. Some jewelry makers have a main brand, and a handful of sub-brands. The example I drew from was the Eisenberg company. Most of their stuff is just marked "Eisenberg". But their top end pieces were marked "Eisenberg Original", and it was from a fur clip I bought her that this idea came to me. It sounded right to me since all of my knives are one-offs.
 
I have been using my Edge Pro Apex with the 220 grit stone to cut in the cutting edge. The plan was to get the edge mostly done, then switch to the waterstones to polish them. I gotta tell you, this is slow going, but I sure do like the way the edge is looking. I've already put in about two hours on one blade, and I figure I'm less than half done with the Edge Pro.

This was the one that started off with the 0.02 edge width, so there was more to remove. Worse still, this is the one that I am beveling from only the left side. The other blade will get beveled from both sides, so I expect it will go faster.

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tryppyr said:
I have been using my Edge Pro Apex with the 220 grit stone to cut in the cutting edge. The plan was to get the edge mostly done, then switch to the waterstones to polish them. I gotta tell you, this is slow going, but I sure do like the way the edge is looking. I've already put in about two hours on one blade, and I figure I'm less than half done with the Edge Pro.

This was the one that started off with the 0.02 edge width, so there was more to remove. Worse still, this is the one that I am beveling from only the left side. The other blade will get beveled from both sides, so I expect it will go faster.

DSCN8930s.JPG
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2 hours? :eek: Get a bubble jig man and take that edge down on the grinder and finish on a stone. Fred has a good video on this.
 
Jig or no, my grinder skills are too poor to trust this part of the job to that method.
 
tryppyr said:
Jig or no, my grinder skills are too poor to trust this part of the job to that method.
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Then Practice! Get some paint sticks from home depot and practice on those. Go to goodwill and buy some cheap knives to practice on. Anything must be more efficient than the way you are doing it.
 
Thanks, Chuck. I will for future knives. Right now I'm working on delivering the best knives I can with the skills I already have. If that means I spend WAY too much time doing something simple, it's a price I am willing to pay to make sure the quality is there for these knives. I don't want my first kitchen knives to be flops. After these two I'll be working on some for myself, and those I will be a lot more willing to experiment on.
 
AVigil said:
2 hours? :eek: Get a bubble jig man and take that edge down on the grinder and finish on a stone. Fred has a good video on this.
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It isn't a matter of speeding things up.

What you don't know is that Greg isn't allowed to help his wife with the housework. He once was going to dust the coffee table, and two hours later he was still dusting it. She asked what was taking so long, and Greg replied, "I keep finding tiny dust motes, and re-dusting the table over and over again."

Greg is super careful, super particular, and thus super slow....but he eventually gets it done........ and usually it is very nice.
 
Well...what's the hurry? If I finished the dusting quickly she'd ask me to do the vacuuming next, and then the windows, and then the laundry.

:)
 
OOps just saw your finished knifes, great looking. Posted the following a few moments ago.

Just wanted to note that a knife used for food should be safe for food. By that I mean that there are no cracks or crevices that food from the prior preparation has had an opportunity to hide, "age" and contaminate the present food being prepared.

That said, avoid large grain or porous woods, make sure the seal between handle and knife is tight particularly the bolster area (its front and if joined to handle material). 90 degree front bolster to blade likes to hide food at the joint and is tuff to clean.

I like a good rocker in a chiefs knife to assist chopping. Hope this helps.
 
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Greg, they are looking nice brother.

I am sure in your own sweet time these will turn out splendidly. I am looking forward to the end result. Don't let em hurry you either. I'm slower than cold dog snot but eventually get there myself. Attention to detail is never a bad quality in my book. :)

Cheers!

-Eric
 
Thanks, Eric. I appreciate the confidence. ;)

Despite having watched Rick's very informative video AND the video instructions included with the stones, it took a full hour at the stone to grasp how one goes about sharpening a knife with a blade that is longer than the stones. The good news is I finally did figure it out. I kinda fell into a rhythmic pattern, holding the blade firmly in both hands (neither touching the tang), and using my body to move the blade in figure eights over the stone, instead of moving my arms to do it. Yes, I felt a little goofy, but it worked. I got through the 220 grit and the 1000 grit, and then had to take a break. When I get back to it I'll start in at 4000 grit and then finish with the 8000 grit stone. After that I'll resand the right side of the blade and then turn my attention to the handle again.

Regarding the handle, I am mindful of MT Borg's advice concerning avoiding 90 degree angles at the bolster. I am contemplating doming the bolster a bit so it becomes easier to keep clean. I'm wondering, though, why other Wa handles don't have that feature.

Amusingly, I just notice I am bleeding on my keyboard. Wonder how I cut my finger tip...
 
Greg, you can start a new business mixing knife sharpening and Zoomba.

I can see you now on the infomercial - " OK Ladies and Gents, you are going to Sharpen your way to a firm and fit body....... Wiggle your butt, wiggle your butt, round and round, round and round, that's it, work that rear end. Just two hours a day and you will look as sharp as your knives! No need to bring a knife, I have plenty for you to work on."

The advanced level course will be - "Sand your way to rock solid abs and a firm bust."
 
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